Ireland's best defence will be to stop attacks close to the breakdown and to not allow these behemoths to build up a head of steam.

Wales also send strike runners from different angles causing confusion in defence. Gilroy and Zebo will need to track Alex Cuthbert and George North off their wings and meet them as soon as they hit the Irish line.

Conor Murray will be tasked with controlling Mike Phillips around the ruck to free up the Irish back row to help out across the back line.

Anthony Foley is new to the role of Irish defence coach and how successful he has been for implementing his ideas could be the winning and losing of this tie.

Gain Momentum in Close Quarters

The way they did this was through the age old tactic of hitting the man low and early and not allowing them to build momentum.

This forced the Irish backs to play off slow ball and on the back foot. It was both incredibly simple and effective at the same time. Underage coaches everywhere must've shown that game to their charges ad nauseam. I know I did.

For Ireland's part they got sucked into the hype and were too easy to read. The ball-carriers were telegraphed and easy to target.

Ireland will need to be more intelligent at the point of attack to break the gain line close to the breakdown. Conor Murray will need to break with a man inside and out, giving the Irish four options and making it more difficult to defend.

Then the Welsh will need to watch for Murray carrying himself, the inside pass, a pop outside to a forward runner and the pass outside to the backs.

Variety will be the key to Ireland gaining go forward ball and there are enough runners in the Irish pack to make this an effective means of attack.

Attack the Gainline out Wide

5 of 5

A simple comparison of the Irish and Welsh back lines will tell you one thing straight off the bat: Ireland will not win by going through the Welsh. They need to go around them.

The Welsh boast a blitz defence that is among the finest in the game, but as with any blitz defence, it has holes.

In Jonny Sexton Ireland have a fly-half capable of exploiting those holes if he takes the ball flat and at pace.